What's "Cooking" in Tiki Central?

Cammo, AWESOME looking Narrow Face (hillbilly term) and Donuts...did you soak the chicken overnight?...YES, I said soak. :)

I soaked overnight, yup, and I actually tried a new version yesterday based on a REALLY old Civil War era recipe, but it didn't work at all.

I'm trying a new one maybe tomorrow, and won't stop until it's freakin' awesome. The two school of buttermilk fried chicken are:

1. Soak. Dredge in flour. Fry. Eat.
2. Soak. Dredge. Soak again quickly. Dredge AGAIN(!). Fry. Eat.

I'm not going to form any preconceptions about what tastes best until I actually do it. Ya never know.

"Narrow Face"?!?!?! Really?!?!?!? Hahahahah!

[ Edited by: Cammo 2013-06-16 17:09 ]

Cammo...My Brother in Law was in the Army and when he was in Korea and Georgia, he was around a lot of good ole southern boys and that was the term used for Chicken...I loved it.

I have seen many cooks these days doing a salt brine on the chicken overnight/rinsing the next day and then soaking in Buttermilk...never tried it but they swear by it.

Here is our latest...homemade Calzones using Rhodes bread dough (not pizza dough) and filled w/ sauteed Mushrooms/Peppers/Onions, Black Olives, Pepperoni, Italian Sausage and Mozz/Provolone/Parm Cheese blend w/ a zesty sauce. The one one marked w/ the mushroom on top also had Hot Banana Peppers. A NYC Italian explosion of flavor. OGR

[ Edited by: Or Got Rum? 2013-06-17 07:29 ]

Those Cal-freakin-zones look TASTEEEE.

You're right about the chicken brine, and I'm experimenting with what's called a "Buttermilk Brine" which is 1/2 water, 1/2 buttermilk, salt, etc., overnight soak. Best of both worlds.

Will post results today. Buzzy's invited to lunch, mostly because I want it taste-tested by a guy whose professional name is Buzzy.

So Buzzy came over for lunch and we tried pretty much every Fried Narrow Face variation you can think of, and I think we nailed the perfect recipe.

Here's the winner:

It tastes great, has a controllable crispiness on the outside, and is pretty healthy all things considered.

I was using chicken breast strips for testing simplicity and clinical uniformity, this would be amazing on a full drumstick or skin-on bone-in chopped-up breastmeat.

As Buzzy also pointed out, the fryer (how deep, how hot, type of oil used) has a lot to do with it. I think he wants to test the next version with his own pro deep-fryer.

And - I'm thinking of making a book of Hillbilly Recipes for Oasis. It will have at least these three recipes:

1. Buttermilk Fried Narrow Face
2. Buttermilk Donuts
3. Chess Pie

Any other recipes anybody want me to include? You get a free book if your recipe goes in!!!!

So what's the freakin secret recipe!

My Gourmet recipe "Mac-N-Cheese"
with Bacon, Onion & Swiss Cheese Sauce

ATP- that's y u r not making anything for the cannibal swap, you are to busy in the kitchen.
Crap, I'm hungry again
:)

Jon

On 2013-06-17 20:37, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
So what's the freakin secret recipe!

Thousand Island dressing and Lawry's....

Buzzy Out!

On 2013-06-17 20:25, Cammo wrote:
Any other recipes anybody want me to include? You get a free book if your recipe goes in!!!!

Chicken fried steak, deviled eggs, pickled okra, pecan pie, biscuits and gravy, turducken, monkey bread, banana pudding, peach cobbler, fried pies, Little Smokies sausages in BBQ sauce, bread pudding, pigs in a blanket, corn dogs and kettle corn are some redneck/hillbilly dishes you can experiment with.

Rotisserie Greek Chicken, Mediterranean Grilled Veggies, Pearl Couscous, 2 kinds of Baklava, and Limoncello Spritzers

Mediterranean sounds real good, nice one Mike.

*For my Oasis Hillbilly Kookbook Tikilongbeach sez:

Chicken fried steak, deviled eggs, pickled okra, pecan pie, biscuits and gravy, turducken, monkey bread, banana pudding, peach cobbler, fried pies, Little Smokies sausages in BBQ sauce, bread pudding, pigs in a blanket, corn dogs and kettle corn are some redneck/hillbilly dishes you can experiment with. *

Yikes, that's a fine list!!!! You know, BBQ sauce just by itself is an interesting idea.

I'm on the pecan pie, I've got a special recipe already. Ditto deviled eggs. Got an AMAZING cobbler recipe, total white trash cookin' at it's finest.

Corn dogs - wow, they WOULD be great. Could just add some of my KFC secret spices to the corn dog batter to make it killah, I'm already sprinkling them on popcorn for an extra kick...

How about this - homemade mustard & ketchup & mayonnaise to go with the dogs?

Here is Buzzy making the best sandwiches I ever had at my kitchen a few month's back.

Here he is preparing the ingredients.

Here is the first phase.

This is the important part, melt it already!!!

display it.

Ahhhh delicious..

On 2013-07-11 07:10, Cammo wrote:
*For my Oasis Hillbilly Kookbook Tikilongbeach sez:

Chicken fried steak, deviled eggs, pickled okra, pecan pie, biscuits and gravy, turducken, monkey bread, banana pudding, peach cobbler, fried pies, Little Smokies sausages in BBQ sauce, bread pudding, pigs in a blanket, corn dogs and kettle corn are some redneck/hillbilly dishes you can experiment with. *

Yikes, that's a fine list!!!! You know, BBQ sauce just by itself is an interesting idea.

I'm on the pecan pie, I've got a special recipe already. Ditto deviled eggs. Got an AMAZING cobbler recipe, total white trash cookin' at it's finest.

Corn dogs - wow, they WOULD be great. Could just add some of my KFC secret spices to the corn dog batter to make it killah, I'm already sprinkling them on popcorn for an extra kick...

How about this - homemade mustard & ketchup & mayonnaise to go with the dogs?

I'm originally from Dallas which is redneck instead of hillbilly, but quite a bit of the foods are the same. Actually Dallas is quite cosmopolitan, it's some of the suburbs that are redneck/white trash.
Mayo on corn dogs? I'm not sure about that. I eat them with only mustard. Texas-style deviled eggs have diced jalapenos in them. Jalapenos added to corn bread is also popular.
Yes, Texans like jalapenos!
Ambrosia is a very popular dessert in the South and with its pineapple, mandarin oranges and coconut it could even be considered tiki. Pecans are a popular add-in if coconut isn't used. Maybe you could experiment with diced unsalted macadamia nuts.
My parents were very health conscience so I never ate the above foods growing up. It wasn't until I went to college and got out in the working world did I have Southern cooking.

On 2013-07-14 12:44, hiltiki wrote:
Here is Buzzy making the best sandwiches I ever had at my kitchen a few month's back.

Ahhhh delicious..

Yes, I will come to your house, build you a tiki hut, AND make you the best sandwiches you ever had. For truly great sandwiches, you need to experience it at my home deli as well. The only thing missing at your place was the deli slicer. That's an essential...

Another deli essential is the deep fat fryer. It can take your home deli to the next level. Cammo and I have had several conversations lately about the art of frying, but we have yet to test his chicken in a deep fryer format. I think deep frying it will make it much better. So Cammo, while I was out and about today, I picked you up a mini deep fat fryer for your recipe testing. It even has a cool semi retro look to it:

The Oster "Lil Fritter"

Looks brand new and the best part was that it was only $6! At that price, if it don't cook the best chicken ever, throw it away!

Buzzy Out!

*Looks brand new and the best part was that it was only $6! *

WOW Buzzy THANKS!!!! This is gonna require a whole new thread of its own or something!

Actually, I wasn't gonna mention that last time you ate $7 worth of chicken....

Curry Chicken Kabobs
over Ginger Rice & Red Curry & Coconut Sauce & Peanuts

ohhhh, that looks GOOD!

Great page
You all just made me hungry...

Jon

My son carved me this Tiki cake for my birthday :D

A BIG Frosting covered Birthday to you too, Mike!

Mike- nice to see you passed on the creative tiki thinking process...

Jon

Ps- happy Bday brother
:)

Sabu's spicy coconut chicken and some steamed rice washed down with a couple of Royal Hawaiian Lapu Lapu's

12 minues later

I didn't like em.
Mahalo Sabu-Dey were ono!
David and CeCe

Sabu's spicy coconut chicken is always a winner here!
Here is another of Sabu's favorite foods....

Knackwurst, Grilled Sauerkraut with onion & bacon, Hot German Potato salad (with more bacon)(Kartoffel Salat)

Das Essen war aber sehr gut!

This is one of Jungle Ginger's favorite comfort foods
from her childhood, she was having a bad day so I whipped
it up for her, but I gotta do it gourmet style from scratch
no spice packs etc.

Sloppy Joe's

You guys are making me hungry. I was glad to see Sabu's chicken skewer thread bumped last week. Such a great recipe, good to introduce it to newer TC members

Yummy and Sloppy

I could be wrong but I suspect that John Galt will be serving us up some SPAM as soon as he reaches a certain post count.

TongaTom you will be proud of me. I cooked a vegetarian meal for my girlfriend's daughter, who like you, is a pescetarian. Falafel sandwiches - falafel, spinach, tomatoes, bell pepper, and tahini dressing on pita bread. I generally try to avoid foods with the phonetic "awful" in them but the falafel were surprisingly good :)

Nice Mike, reminds me of my days running around Europe
and pretty much subsisting on Shawarma & Falafel Pita's
which could be found in every country & well, good beer too.

Tonight's mystery dinner, what do you think it is?

Char Sui pork without the red dye #4 would be my guess.
Funny you should mention Swarma, I picked up some Swarma seasoning also and making some beef kabobs with it tonite.

Close Mike, It is Char Siu "Chicken" with Ginger rice & Thai cucumber salad.

It looks good ATP. You on-board for Oasis?

Here is the shawarma seasoned beef kabobs with veggies and bulgar pilaf

See you at Oasis Mike!

So what's cooking?

How about Italian Meatballs & Garlic Herb Bread

A nice red sauce

Had to have some Spaghetti & Meatballs ASAP, but hey ATP you posted that before?

So the whole reason to make this layout was for Homemade Meatball Sandwiches!

We're doing a Greek themed Christmas party this you so I picked up a vertical roaster while in San Diego for Oasis. Tried it out last night for some Tacos Al Pastor and it worked very well. Pork meat cut into about 4x4x1/2 inch flaps, marinated in chili with citrus and pineapple juices, and stacked on the skewer. The fresh pineapple on top bastes the meat as it cooks and you slice off the outsides as it gets done. Served on corn tortillas with cilantro, salsa fresco, and guacamole.

Tomorrow night we'll try out a 10 lb Gyro cone
(sorry, no pics after it cooked)

On 2013-08-21 08:58, MadDogMike wrote:
We're doing a Greek themed Christmas party this you so I picked up a vertical roaster while in San Diego for Oasis. Tried it out last night for some Tacos Al Pastor and it worked very well. Pork meat cut into about 4x4x1/2 inch flaps, marinated in chili with citrus and pineapple juices, and stacked on the skewer. The fresh pineapple on top bastes the meat as it cooks and you slice off the outsides as it gets done. Served on corn tortillas with cilantro, salsa fresco, and guacamole.

Tomorrow night we'll try out a 10 lb Gyro cone
(sorry, no pics after it cooked)

Aloha Mike,
Datsa way too cool roaster! Did you get it at a restaurant supply house?
I have a "shave ice" station here at home for the grand kids and a roaster would be perfect as the centerpiece of a taco station (for me!)...
Very nice,
David

Yes David, picked it up at a restaurant supply house. They sell the gyros cones too.

Tried out the gyros tonight and served it with pita bread, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, and tzatziki sauce (yogurt, cucumber, lemon juice, and spices). Also had falafel (spiced deep fried garbanzo bean patties) and tahini (sesame seeds) dressing, dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), hummus and pita chips, Greek chicken, couscous salad (pearl couscous, kalamata olives, feta cheese, sun dried tomatoes, garbanzo beans), several different bakalvas, lemoncello soaked pound cake, and ouzo shots ~ OOPA!!!!

Been cooking all day and then the family over to be guinea pigs. Got a good idea of what will work for the Greek Christmas party and what won't.

This was the end of the 10 lb. Gyro log (cone). Sorry, I was cooking and didn't get pictures of all the food :D

MDM, that roaster is so cool! I want one.

Summer is fishing time for me, it was Blue Fin Tuna this year. Big ones at that.

With that much fish, we have friends come over and get some, with some Sashimi sides

and some bacon/onion wrapped grill kabobs.

Trade for rum or wine.

Will be smoking and canning some of this years batch for Mojave Oasis.

DC

So DC stands for "Da Catch". Congrats Dusty-that all looks so good!
Cheers

Question ~ are you a "clean everything as you go" cook or a "dirty every pan in the kitchen and clean up later" cook?

You can guess which type I am :D

Arabic food tomorrow

On 2013-09-07 16:01, MadDogMike wrote:
Question ~ are you a "clean everything as you go" cook or a "dirty every pan in the kitchen and clean up later" cook?

We have a small kitchen. My wife is a fabulous cook but when she is done (before we eat) there is a dangerously high stack of pots, pans and utensils waiting to be cleaned.
I love cooking and hate dishwashing so I wash everything as I go. Never more than a couple of items in the dishwater and not for long. We sit a spell after dinner and then I wash any thing left and then head for the bar for our second cocktail. Thank god we are all different!
Cheers
Btw Mike,the above does not apply to my bar and beverage making. Dat stuff can wait til the a.m. I do set the glasses and some of the bar utensils in a bucket of soapy water-only cuz the ants will wake up before me.

I'm sorry David but I think a clean workspace is a sign of a sick mind :lol:

Since I bought a vertical rotisserie I figured I might as well use it.
Shawarma and fixin's - pita bread, tomatoes, cucumbers- plain and vinegar marinated, hummus, parsley, tzaziki sauce, tabouli salad. In the back are two Arabic desserts. Magasgas - cardamom flavored fried puffs, very good if you like cardamom. And Ma'amoul - cookies stuffed with pistachios and dates. The Ma'amoul were dry which surprised me as they had 2 sticks of butter to 3 cups of dry ingredients. The recipe called for a cup of semolina, my internet research told me that you could use cream of wheat. It made them rather gritty.

All we needed was a belly dancer :D

When you hurry through life, you just get to the end faster.
Pirate Ship Tree House

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2013-09-08 16:45 ]

Mike, that looks delicious.

Mike, Tacos Al Pastor! Excellent! I want one of those roasters, man!
Dusty, bringing the seafood party to my mouth (does that sound bad?)

Yes, but it's ok

Buttermilk Fried Chicken
Buttermilk & Honey biscuits
Mashed Potato's with herb gravy
Corn & Hominy

Made a traditional Danish desert called " Dansk Pandekage"
Danish Pancakes (very much like crepes) filled with sugar & raspberry jam
topped with powdered sugar.